Blood, Sweat & Gears – Art Exhibition

Velo Club Iveagh member Wendy Mckeown is hosting an Art Exhibition in Banbridge Old Town Hall, opening night 12th of October. Wendy tell us below about the Exhibition and whats on offer.

Having been married to a cyclist for a number of years, washing cycle kit was normal, going along to races was duly expected and watching endless highlights of the Tour, Giro and Vuelta on Sky catch up was not up for debate.

So having a reasonable knowledge of what it was all about or so I thought, little did I know I was about to learn a whole lot more about a sport which is very under estimated and somewhat misunderstood by many.

I had always been a runner and for a number of years, trained for many events and accumulated quite a collection of medals and even though I had tried cycling in the past, the danger and traffic on the roads had always terrified me to the point were I was convinced it was most definatley not for me. So at the beginning of this year when I picked up a hip injury and physio and rest didn’t seem to make much difference, my husband suggested trying some cycling as an alternative.

Velo Club Iveagh were taking part in the Sofa2Saddle scheme organised by the ABC Council, so it was a good starting point for me with some other similar folk to learn how to cycle properly. The First few weeks were quite daunting, there was the usual getting to grips using Cleats, the falling off and the near misses with inconsiderate drivers. But being a part of a group/club and cycling brought so much more……just getting out in the open air, seeing the countryside on a bicycle, you see so much more than you would in a car and then there is the challenges it throws at you… that climb you thought you wouldn’t make and did or the downhill descent the scared the hell out of you at the time . Cycling has shown me so much more I never really knew or understood about it until I took to the saddle….. So deciding to paint the sport for an exhibition was somewhat trial and error……. having always painted animals, the technical side of drawing a person on a bicycle was so much more difficult at times.

So this exhibition is about the sport, its heroes and its challenges but also the local clubs who take to the roads for the various races in Northern Ireland. Blood, Sweat & Gears opens on Thursday 12th October at 7.30pm in Banbridge Old Town hall and runs until Thursday 19th October. Open daily 10am to 5pm, closed Sunday & Monday. On opening night only there will be a 20% discount on all the works on display and for everyone who attends on opening night there will be a free draw to win a commissioned piece of their choice by myself.

Everyone is welcome to attend and light refreshments will be available.